It's not about you | Week 3 | Heart for the House Series
BIG IDEA: OUR FIRST AND BEST BELONGS TO JESUS.
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. We create a world around us where we are the central focus.
WE LOVE TO BE THE HERO.
We even read scripture from the perspective where we are the hero or main character in the story.
Good Samaritan is great example.
We place ourselves in the role of the Good Samaritan and ask am I caring for those that I encounter. Am I showing compassion or selfishness in my daily life?
Jesus Himself is the Good Samaritan, as proved by His treatment of the robbed and wounded human race. Sin and the devil are the robbers who have plundered man of his robe of innocence and all supernatural gifts, and grievously wounded him in his natural gifts. As a result, humanity lays there weak, helpless, and half-dead.
You’re not the Samaritan… you’re the man in the ditch.
It’s not the only example of stories where we read ourselves as the hero.
In the creation of Adam… we find Jesus shadowed as prophet, priest, and king.
In Noah’s Ark… we find Jesus as He is the ark carries the redeemed safely inside of Himself through the dangerous flood waters of judgment.
In the story of Abraham and Isaac… we find Jesus revealed as the father offers his precious son to be a sacrificed.
In the story of Joseph… we find Jesus as the rejected brother who is the one person that everyone in the world must come to for bread, thus rescuing those who don’t deserve it.
In Moses… we find Jesus as the unwanted deliverer leading His people into the promise.
In the Wilderness… we find Jesus is the manna from Heaven that sustains us and the refreshing water from the rock at Horeb.
In Joshua… we find Jesus as the commander of God’s army.
In Samson, we find Jesus as a wounded warrior whose death brought the greatest victory.
In Ruth… we find Jesus is Boaz the Kinsman Redeemer.
In the fiery furnace… we find Jesus as the ever present sustainer in the midst of the fire.
In Jonah… we find Jesus entombed for three days and nights only to rise again.
In Daniel in the Lion’s Den… we find Jesus literally shows up to nullify the power of the enemy, who is described as a roaring lion.
In David and Goliath… we find Jesus standing in the gap, crushing the head of the serpent, and gaining winning our freedom.
OUR STORY IS NOT EVEN OUR STORY… IT’S HIS STORY.
Colossians 1:13-14 13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.Colossians 1:13-14 NASB
Colossians 1:13
WE WERE RESCUED FROM THE DOMAIN OF DARKNESS
The forces of darkness had the legal right of access to us but Christ stepped in and removed the enemies right to access, dictate, and direct our life.
Matthew 7:29 - 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7:29 NASB
Mathew 10:1 -Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Matthew 10:1 NASB
Five Signs That The Enemy Has Access
Division and Disunity
Pride
Moral lines are blurring
Discouragement - 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. Ephesians 1:3-11 NLT
Self-Pity
WE WERE TRANSFERRED TO HIS KINGDOM
Authority is transferrable. Ie- transfer title, transfer deeds, elections are supposed to be followed by a “peaceful transfer of power”
The idea of being “transferred” had special significance in the ancient world. When one empire conquered another, the custom was to take the population of the defeated empire and transfer it completely to the conqueror’s land.
The principle here is that everything we have and everything we are now belongs to Him.
HE IS FIRST AND BEST
Colossians 1:15-18 -15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Colossians 1:15-18 NASB
Our story should point to Him.
Our decisions… Your choices tell the story of Jesus when you make decisions based on submission to His guidance alone.
Our priorities… Your priories tell the story of Jesus with you make what’s important to you match what’s importance to Him.
Our money… Generosity is telling the story of Jesus with our money.
Our time… Your schedule tells the story of Jesus when we cut things out so we aren’t distracted from time with Him.
Our energy… Your energy tells the story of Jesus when we remove activities that keep us from serving His purposes.
Philippians 1:27-28 -27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. Philippians 1:27-28 NASB
The sign of God’s salvation looks a lot like living every aspect of your life in bold submission to Jesus.
When we unify in bold action, we see Kingdom expansion.
Because He is first and best… He gets first and best. Tithing is really about giving God our first and best. You’re tithing to something but it is God.
Words of Knowledge
We believe the Lord is healing pancreatic issues, not sure if it’s cancer or something else.
We believe the Lord wants to heal arthritis in the right hand.
We believe the Lord wants to heal someone’s left foot.
We believe the Lord wants to heal someone of incontinence.